De Molen Tsarina Esra Cognac

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Bodegraven, Netherlands

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Bottle @ home. Aroma is caramel, cognac sweetness, some roast. Flavour is creamy, roasty, ashy, then some cognac sweetness with some alcohol. Loads of other flavour, caramel, red fruit, molasses and much more. Great beer, but I think I prefer the regular Tsarina.

Dark brown amost black with a generous beige head. Strong fruity/chocolate nose with loads of raisiny character. Réminiscence of an ABT! Full bodied, warming palate, chocolate, plummy and a touch of roasted nuts. Medium carbonation. Long warming finale. Very nice.

Pitch black bit dark brown and quite foamy head. Clear cognac aroma, which is lovely in this beer. Also raisins, cream, vanilla, some roast and a bit of alcohol. Medium sweet but balanced taste. Extremely smooth body, warming at the finish. Develops well in the mooth. Not the most powerful or roasted, but rather a unique warmer. Lift the already warming character further but has to let go of some power. I really enjoyed this. (33cl bottle, bougt at De Molen)

Bottle, a 12% version bottled 08/11/2011. Black with a creamy light brown head. Aroma: wood, roasted, chocolate, müsli. Taste: chocolate, licorice, some alcohol, cognac, raisins, roasted, some kind of red candy. Full-bodied. Leaves me a bit disappointed after the fantastic regular version. I don’t know, the last year or so, with the new label design, the heavier De Molen beers haven’t been as impressive as they used to be.

Pour dark, nearly black, with no head at all. Aroma of chocolate, mocca, vanilla, dark fruits and hints of wood. Also cognac is detected, but as much as one would expect. The taster is rather sweet, but is well balanced. Body is a bit more watery than what i expected, and there is very little carbonation going on. I like this on, a whole lot more than the regular.

August 2011 bottle at Nya Tröls in Malmo. Deep brown body with a quick-forming light brown head. High effervescence requires a time of swirling agitation to bring the carbonation down to suit the body, otherwise it’s overly frothy and fizzy and the yeast phenols, present in all other high gravity De Molen beers tried before, become excessively dirty. When the carbonation meets the body the malt is presented sticky, fluffy and pillowy, leaning to the sweet side. The cognac soaked oak along with the heavy malt provide a sweetened date/plum/grape note to go with the chocolate mousse and roast. Alcohol, mentioned at 12.5%, never dominates, always playing in the background. It’s well-balanced sweetness, alcohol and malt firmness are what makes it so good. Had as a nightcap after a wonderful mackerel, cod, asparagus and beef dinner earlier, elsewhere in town.

Bottle. Pours a black color with a small longlasting off-white head. Has a roasted malty fruity chocolate and weak cognac aroma. Roasted malty sweetish chocolate and dark fruit flavor with hints of cognac. Has a roasted malty chocolate, cognac and dark fruit finish.

33 cl bottle, almost a year old. Dark brown with coating tan foam. Nose is chocolate cake, raisin, light cognac and hay. Medium body with an airy tingle. Taste is milk chocolate, blueberry and caramel with cognac adding a bitter bite. Very smooth for a big brew.

Handbottle.

Dark black brown colour with virtually no head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, chocolate, dark malt, caramel, wood, alcohol - cognac. Flavour is heavy sweet and moderate to heavy bitter with a long duration, alcohol warm, alcohol - cognac, dark chocolate and dark roasted malt. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is flat, finish feel is light to moderate alcoholic.

Black colored beer with hardly any head. Aroma of burned malts and alcohol. Taste: burned malts, coffee, chocolate but nicely balance with alchol warmth, some caramel and liquor notes. Some alcohol warming in the aftertaste.